The Struggle Over Relief

Humanitarian Groups Fear Iraq Will Suffer From Politics After War

April 09, 2003|By DAVID LIGHTMAN; Washington Bureau Chief

WASHINGTON — Trucks cross the Iraqi border from Kuwait, filled with water and emergency medical supplies.

It's what people in the ravaged southern part of the country need to at least survive. But the trucks also symbolize the frustration that's stalling humanitarian efforts -- and perhaps inhibiting U.S. efforts to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqis, the crucial political goal of the American effort to win the peace.

Activists worry those hamstrung humanitarian efforts will hinder the bid to help the Iraqi people for some time to come.

``We are technically in Iraq, but it's very limited,'' said a clearly frustrated Marc Zergara, a UNICEF spokesman in Kuwait City. ``We're just waiting.

``We have people working for us everywhere -- in Turkey, Jordan, Iran, Syria. We have the manpower. We have the expertise. We can deliver the aid quickly.''

The humanitarian groups feel they are held back by two powerful forces: war and politics. And the politics in particular raises serious questions for the war's legacy. Will the Americans be seen as liberators or occupiers? Will they be perceived as there to help or to conquer?

Little by little, aid is getting through, but not fast enough to satisfy the experts. ``It's a problem,'' said Mark Bartolini, director of Middle Eastern programs for the International Rescue Committee, an aid group founded in 1933 to help opponents of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.

Iraq's immediate needs are particularly worrisome because U.S. sanctions have for years limited efforts to get food, medicine and other supplies to the country. Relief groups lack the contacts and networks they have in other places, even Afghanistan.

All that, though, is today's problem. What worries the caregivers more is the politics of the war's aftermath, because as soon as the war ends, they will be ready to move in.

The Bush administration has made it clear its battle to free Iraq is a military initiative as much as a humanitarian one, and it wants the Pentagon to take the lead in coordinating most relief efforts.

It created the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, and its goals include helping Iraqis get basic services like power, water, medical care and so on. Heading ORHA is retired U.S. Army Gen. Jay Garner, who will report to U.S. Central Command leader Gen. Tommy Franks.

ORHA bothers a lot of the non-governmental aid groups and American politicians from both parties.

``For us to become Pentagon contractors would totally undermine the perception that we're impartial and independent and committed to humanitarian action,'' said George Devendorf, director of emergency operations for Mercy Corps, an emergency relief agency formed in the wake of Cambodia's ``killing fields'' in 1979.

It could also hurt relief programs elsewhere. ``We work in areas all over the world that are hostile to the U. S. government,'' Bartolini explained. ``The more we're linked to the military, the more it will strip us of our ability to operate.''

The administration and its backers insist Pentagon involvement is important and its political risks are overblown. ``Nobody really knows where the secure areas are or will be,'' said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. ``The military role is critical, and they're already showing they can deliver aid.''

Others in Congress disagreed.

``If the Defense Department runs the effort, you'll know we are not there to help the Iraqi people. You'll know we are there because this is a military coup,'' said Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif.

Not so, countered McCain. ``State and Defense are branches of the same government. That's what matters,'' he said.

But what also matters is the view from the Arab world. Those skeptical of a military presence in the humanitarian effort point out that having Americans saving, let alone perceived to be occupying, an Arab country would send a frightening signal to other Arab countries in particular. It's also, they maintain, potential fodder for terrorists who want to rail against American influence.

The State Department's Agency for International Development now coordinates the aid program. Its Disaster Assistance Response Teams will go into a region and assess its needs; the teams consist not only of AID specialists, but experts from other agencies versed in health, population and other matters.

Material destined for Iraq is being collected in a facility outside Amman, Jordan, and some aid is already flowing. AID has thus far spent $246 million for relief. The money has gone to non-government organizations, the rest to international organizations like United Nations agencies or the Red Cross and to purchase supplies.